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| re: Question re: the 1958 London production of WEST SIDE STORY | |
| Last Edit: AlanScott 08:09 pm EDT 06/25/19 | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 08:06 pm EDT 06/25/19 | |
| In reply to: re: Question re: the 1958 London production of WEST SIDE STORY - Dawson 07:26 pm EDT 06/25/19 | |
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| It's been said many times that it was not played during the original Broadway run. Even some of the folks involved (either Kostal, Ramin or both) remembered it as having been put together for the return engagement, when it was unquestionably played. But at least one review by a music critic for a major paper three months into the original run is very specific about the overture being played. It's clear that the critic was not talking about the prologue music. We also know from a letter that Bernstein wrote to Felicia a few days before the first D.C. performance that he'd been up all night putting together a temporary overture. This seems to have become (although it's hard to be certain) the overture that was used. Bernstein doesn't seem to have been very happy with the overture, even though he conducted it on opening night of the return engagement, and it wasn't included in the published score (although I think it was included in the appendix of a later edition). The fact that it wasn't in the published score has also led to the belief that it wasn't played, although I think (not quite 100-percent positive at the moment) it was always offered, at least as an option, in the licensed materials. The history is a bit uncertain (which is why I wrote "there is reason to believe" rather than stating it as definitive fact), but there is other circumstantial evidence pointing to the overture having been played during the original run (and unquestionably during the return). Too many books and articles on theatre rely too much on people's unreliable memories rather than going back to original sources. Re London: The overture was very specifically mentioned in at least two news articles about the pre-London run in Manchester. It's possible that it was then cut for London, but I very much doubt it. Forgive me for being a bit vague on a few things but this is something I may write about someday, and I don't want to post all my sources. The funny thing about the cast recording question is that cast recordings can be very misleading about what was or wasn't played in performance, perhaps especially when it comes to overtures. There are a number of cast recordings that include overtures that were not heard in the theatre. Sometimes they were heard as entr'actes (or entr'actes revised a bit), sometimes they were put together for the cast recording (sometimes from overtures that were dropped out of town), or sometimes they may have been created only for the recording. And conversely there were shows that had overtures that for one reason or another were not on the cast recordings. Do I Hear a Waltz? is another example. And, of course, the original LP issue of 110 in the Shade, although the history of that overture is a bit confusing and complicated as well. |
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| re: Question re: the 1958 London production of WEST SIDE STORY | |
| Posted by: StanS 02:40 pm EDT 06/26/19 | |
| In reply to: re: Question re: the 1958 London production of WEST SIDE STORY - AlanScott 08:06 pm EDT 06/25/19 | |
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| "And conversely there were shows that had overtures that for one reason or another were not on the cast recordings." Another example of that is WONDERFUL TOWN, although the overture did make it to the 1958 CBS TV recording. |
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| re: Question re: the 1958 London production of WEST SIDE STORY | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 01:29 am EDT 06/26/19 | |
| In reply to: re: Question re: the 1958 London production of WEST SIDE STORY - AlanScott 08:06 pm EDT 06/25/19 | |
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| The funny thing about the cast recording question is that cast recordings can be very misleading about what was or wasn't played in performance, perhaps especially when it comes to overtures. And of course there are a number of things on that recording that don't exist in the show. The ending of the cha-cha, likewise the ending of "I Have A Love." And of course the final choral "reprise" of "Somewhere." There are also minor changes in orchestration (the omission of the brass lick after "but it is / gonna be great" for instance). I remember doing a production of the show where they still sent a manuscript copy of the conductor's score. It indeed shows the Overture to be a literal cut-and-paste job, using the corresponding pages from the numbers as played in the show. The mambo section even includes some of the choreography notes, like "Chita slides." So indeed, it was clearly cobbled together very fast. |
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| re: Question re: the 1958 London production of WEST SIDE STORY | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 02:03 am EDT 06/26/19 | |
| In reply to: re: Question re: the 1958 London production of WEST SIDE STORY - Chromolume 01:29 am EDT 06/26/19 | |
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| And some of those changes were decided upon by Sondheim, who was in charge with Lieberson (who also had a hand, of course, in some of the changes), as Bernstein left for Israel two days after the Broadway opening (and one day before the recording session) to conduct at the opening of the new concert hall for the Israel Philharmonic. Among other things (you may already know about these specific changes made during the session) were the cuts and adjustments that had to be made to "Tonight" because whoever was in charge of estimating the timings of each number had made a very wrong estimate of how long it was (2:40 as opposed to 5:10), and also Lieberson's insistence that the final chorus of "Krupke" be performed "very slow with a heavy vaudeville beat," which Sondheim liked and he thought that Bernstein would also like, although he also thought that "Jerry must have had conniptions." A rare case of something being slower rather than faster on a Lieberson cast recording. In case anyone is wondering, we know about these things from a letter Sondheim wrote to Bernstein a few weeks after the session (while Bernstein was still away). | |
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